Ignition switch mod

As unsophisticated the mustangs were in 1999, they still had a few very interesting electronics on board. One of them is the Passive Anti Theft System (PATS). What that means is the car need to be started with a special key that has a chip inside. This days it's almost a standard for every car to have this feature. In 99, and I am sure Ford introduced it even earlier in some other cars, it was an innovation. The system is not very complicated and does not really have that many parts. The on-board computer ECU has at most 3 keys programmed. The key has a special chip inside. The last link in the chain is the ignition switch closing the circuit. The plan is simple you take the right key, stick that into the ignition switch that reads the chip, the ECU matches the code of the chip in the key to that stored in memory. If everything matches the car fires up!

Most of the time the builders of the custom cars can't be bothered with all this complexity. However, I have it already from my donor car so why throw it away? The donor ignition switch and lock cylinder are actually fairly far apart. There's a linkage that translates the turning action of the key into a sliding action on the switch. This parts are all made to fit on the mustang but would not fit behind cobra's dash. Let's make them fit!

This is how the housing looks like for the lock cylinder.

I have marked the blue line to cut off the excess of the material.

After some grinder action

Here you can see how I reused the linkage to connect to the ignition switch. The angle bracket here is temporarily. It's holding the parts together for now. Once I get closer to the dash mounting I will fabricate a real bracket that mounts to the frame behind the dash. 

The pinnacle of my engineering

Originally, I was looking at the assembled cobra cars and loved the relocated oil filter. It's part of the cool factor. Then I was doing though all the parts and was happy to see the relocation kit included from Factory Five. I even ordered a couple of K&N filters from Summit. However, when it came time to install, I learned that only small blocks and big blocks really need that. My mod 4.6 actually works fine with the original location of the filter. Normally, I would not mess with engine's oil system unless I really have to. In this case, I "really have to" :) For some crazy reason Factory Five includes the oil relocation kit that fits on 302 block as part of my 4.6 package. I had a disappointing chat with them to learn that I don't use that part but have paid for it. Factory Five for you! Oh well, Summit gets a next order for an oil relocation kit for 4.6 motor.

This is where things get a bit tangled. The location I have selected for oil filters is actually near the steering shaft and steering column. However, on the other side of the same location I was thinking of placing the power distribution box. Also just above that I have the coolant reservoir. It may look like all of this are very loosely dependent but you'll see what I had in mind.

First of all, my birthday has just past and apparently for a round number of 30, many people give much more cash then I expected. All that meant, I got a Lincoln Electric welder. It freed up my imagination for new level of parts fabrication.

Well, the welding machine is nice but it's only as effective as my welding skills. Let's see what I can do. This is the coolant reservoir mounting bracket. The reservoir bolts up with two bolts. The problem is the bolts are poorly accessible. The solution is to weld them to the bracket.

First attempt was recorded as a success. The weld is neat and looks good. Here's how the reservouir will look like in final position.  

Next one up is the power distribution box bracket. It was intended to fit on the mustang fender. I tried different locations but stopped at under the coolant tank on the x brace.(see above where the red wire is passing through). Let's modify the bracket

Now this is the end of the beginners luck. I present the proper "booger weld".

There's actually an inverse relationship between welding skills and grinding skills. Here's the proof: 

Now that bracket is drying up the new coat of paint. Meanwhile I need to crop a new plate that will be the mounting spot for the third coolant reservoir support, the power distribution box bracket and my oil filters. I used a peace of cardboard to create a template for the round tube frame.

The left is shape that the plate on the right should have.

From the front of the car

From the engine bay

Now time to bend the original support rod into the new shape

Cut it off and thread the end

Here's the mock up fitment of all three parts together. The rod above is serving as a mounting bolt for the bracket. I have exceeded my expectations here. :)

See how the dual oil filters look like in the engine bay. They are very accessible from the bottom and are high enough to be away from the dangers of the road.

This is the entire assembly ... assembled. I actually did measure things here. That power distribution box actually has a swing stile lid. That lid will open and follow the curvature of the coolant tank. This fact alone promotes this from a "blog post" to a "success story".

Yeah yeah, I need to clean up my parts, my desk, my garage, my room.

Home for the battery

It's time to find permanent home for the electrical components. Let's start with an easy one. It's also the biggest. The battery has been resting on a couple of the planks of wood at the front. It's where Mustang had it. My cobra needs it in the trunk. In fact under the trunk floor to save the trunk space. If you recall, I had a funky kit installed from ffmetal.com

It would seem that all I need to do is to actually move the battery to the rear and connect the two big wires. How hard can it get? How about if one of the wires is not provided as part of the kit. ;) Oh good ol' Factory Five. Well, I needed the battery posts relocation anyhow. Since the battery will be installed in a very hard to access compartment it would be priceless to have access for charging and cut off switch for safety. Of course, folks at Breeze Automotive know the troubles the builders go through and have a fix ready.

Now I have all the parts I need: the ground cables for the entire car, charging posts and the high current cut off switch.

The task becomes really straight forward. Clean up the powder coating and bolt up the cables with properly crimped ends. Here's an example 

The battery is too big and does not fit inside the box. I will buy the correct size one later but till then it looks like this

I also got a couple of these

One set goes on top of the battery another covers the charging posts

This is the pretty side

And the last bit to complete the circuit is the switch. Remember that it has to go between the battery and the car but not the charging post. The idea is that you should be able to disconnect the battery for charging.

Here's how the switch looks like between the seats in the cabin.

Nothing to write home about. There is a face plate that goes under but I need to finish the carpet before installing it. The pretty side of the switch is the under side

My wife does not share my fascination with the internals looking cute. She claims that nobody would look or care to look at the internal component. She does have a higher level of education then me so I let these silly remarks slide occasionally.

It comes alive!

Let's recap: engine and transmission are in and the rear axle has been bolted in for a while now. The missing link is the drive shaft. With that hint in mind, guess what I got for my birthday? Well, I dropped off the original mustang part at Pat's driveline for shortening since the cobra requires about a foot long drive shaft. My dad agreed to pick it up for me once it's done. When it arrived to my house it was wrapped in a box and a bow stuck on. Thanks! What a thoughtful gift. Just what I needed. :) For some reason I did not take a picture of it. Honestly, the drive shaft looks like a drive shaft.

However, this means that I was able to complete my puzzle. The drive line was finished. I filled up the transmission with Mobil 1 ATM fluid. The engine got filled with some dino oil filled with various cleansing agents. Topped with a K&N oil filter it made up my breakin setup. The thinking was to play around with this oil and filter combo and once the car is ready to roll to fill her up with proper oil and the standard white K&N filter. Of course, I took it to the next level but that's for later.

Now, let's get to the exciting part: does it run? After all, a lot of parts were touched by me and that does not always produces desired outcome. I pulled out the box of wires and started to wrap them around the frame. I this time I just wanted to make sure that the connectors click and there is current in the necessary circuits. It does not look pretty but it does not have to yet.

This is what I am looking for:

As my friend said to me: "this was my Christmas tree this year". He was right. I was just as glad and indeed this was last Christmas time. I am horrible at keeping my blog current.

If you expect to hear that the engine fired right up and there was fairy dust in the air I have a disappointment for you. In fact, it was very dead. The only signs of life I got was the cranking of the starter by manually supplying 12v to the trigger. To me that means that the starter is fine but that's about all. The reason for the silence in the garage was Ford's PATS(Passive Anti Theft System). I must have triggered it some how. That means I had sit on my hands until this arrived:

It may sound unexpected but I did not own a generic OBD2 scanner at that time. On the other side, I just got myself an X3. This usually bring up a bunch of questions. I'll try to nail as much as I can right of the bat. No, this thing does not come with canned tunes. Of course, I will be tuning this car. No, I do it myself using SCT's Pro Racer software. I may have Steeda guys or some other tuner look it over once I am done. Returning back to topic, this small scanner allowed me to reset PATS and present you with this video:

He he. I also expected an engine start. As you can see, nope, it did not happen. That's the time when I detected a faulty fuel line. I am glad I took those videos. It made me think more about safety. I am thankful to be report that everything is fine after the fact that the fuel was pouring down next to the sparkling loose wire on the starter. However, my wife made me buy one of this for my garage:

Moving on back to my non cooperating engine. I went on to seek the wisdom on the internet. As usually, ffcars guys helped me out. I did a lot of simple test but in the end I missed the crank position sensor. It was simply not plugged in. Once that connector clicked on I was able to film another video

This is when I reached the first but very fulfilling milestone. I think I'll go have another beer to re-celebrate this event. In retrospect, I think I had a bit too few that night.

Engine goes in. Take 2

Previously on "Engine goes in", just before the engine was mated to the tranny, I realized that my clutch is not worthy to be installed. After a ferocious search in my local parts counters, I realized the only things that are "available" are Chinese made OEM replacements. And it would be a 2 days special order. At 10 o'clock at night I threw my hands up and dropped the engine in as is. No tranny.

Two days later, the mail man dropped off this:

As usually, Summit has what I need in stock and will ship it now. Even if it means at 11:00 pm in the evening. This guys make Amazon look bad.

Now, in this episode of  "Engine goes in": engine comes out, clutch slides on, tranny bolts on, and ... engine goes in. Let's begin.

Cast it in

and reel it out

Let's jump onto the clutch install. Don't forget the clutch alignment tool. Ford Racing clutch did not come with the tool so I had to buy ACT one separately.

The clutch slides on the alignment tool.

 

The pressure plate come on next and simply bolts up to flywheel.

As soon as you pull on the plastic ring on the alignment tool, the ring snaps and breaks off. After realizing why this tool is so cheap and pulling the rest of it out with pliers, replace the throw out bearing on the transmission shaft.

The mate the tranny to the motor

At this time, we are ready to go back into the engine bay

We are still missing the tranny mount. It actually needs some tender love and care. This is what Ford has made for Mustang.

And this is what it got transformed into

After a fresh coat of paint

The mount was installed with the special Factory Five frame that attaches to the main 4" tube frame. It was a long night but very productive.